Project windows are blank in Ubuntu/VirtualBox on Mac

Question

I have a user running PT 9 on Ubuntu running in VirtualBox on a Mac. The project windows show no text, but only the Note icons all bunched up at the top of the pane. She has just reinstalled PT9 and still has the problem.

The user found this page indicating a known issue with Parallels that causes blank windows. Is this a known issue on VirtualBox, too? Is there a workaround or fix in the pipeline?

Answer 1

User reported that reseting paratext settings fixed this.

The help topic for reseting paratext settings is here:

How do I reset Paratext? Helps

If there are problems with Paratext crashing, it might help to reset the program. To reset, do the following: Hold down the Shift key when starting Paratext. Click Yes to confirm that you wish to reset your Paratext settings. Do one of the following: Click Yes if you wish to report a problem (to let the development team know what problems you encountered which caused you to want to reset Paratext). Follow the steps (from step 2 onwards) in [How do I report a problem in Paratext?](http://suppor…

Comments

For what it's worth, I just had this problem too. I run Paratext 9.5.101.3 on Windows 11. 

Here's a print screen:

I made this system change to improve the sharpness of Paratext, so maybe that's a contributing factor. 

In any case, I closed PT and reopened it while holding Shift. And that fixed it! Thanks for sharing. 

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Great - We do have ParatextLite version for macOS - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ysmexwN2XBv9yjhV4FKN_94s_V5coGXu?usp=sharing

Answer 2

If I understand you correctly, this is not the same problem as the Mac problem with Parallels. She is running the Linux version of Paratext in VirtualBox on a Mac, not the Windows version of Paratext in Parallels on a Mac.

I am notifying the Paratext Linux developer. Could you perhaps provide a screenshot illustrating the problem?

Blessings!

Jonathan+Robie

Comments

Yes, she’s running Linux version of PT (Paratext 9.0.100.10236-Linux), in Ubuntu in VirtualBox.
Screenshot of empty windows attached, as described by anon989803.

empty windows with notes visible753×800 44.3 KB

Answer 3

I don’t recall seeing anything like this before. In the past I have seen problems, when a Virtual machine is hard closed (equivalent to pressing the power button on a desktop machine), leading to corrupt data files.

Assuming something like that happened, then you could try renaming the data/projects folder and allow paratext to recreate it. Then Send Receive a project and see if that helps.

Steps:

1. Ensure paratext isn’t running.
2. open a Terminal.
3. type the following:
   mv Paratext8Projects BackupParatext8Projects
4. Start Paratext.
5. S/R a project.
6. Are things still broken?

Answer 4

The user has already done some testing, and reported:

I uninstalled PT8 and PT9, deleted PT8 files stored in my files folders, then reinstalled only PT9.

Now when I open the projects in PT9, I only see blank windows (see screenshot).

The screenshot being the one posted earlier. After deleting the projects she S/R’ed to get a new copy.

So, yes, things are still broken.

Comments

1. Have things always been broken on this VM or did they used to work?

S:

deleted PT8 files stored in my files folders

This is a little ambiguous, if only the contents of Paratext8Projects were delete then might confuse the installer. It would be worth confirming that Paratext8Projects was deleted.

3. running from a terminal:
   paratext9 --debug | tee output.txt
   might yield some more information.

4. Has a Help -> Give feedback been done?
   if not, that would be worth doing as the log file sent might show the cause.

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This is still (or again?) happening with some Resource texts for us with PT 9.0.100.10252 in Wasta 20.04. I reported it a while ago in PTXS-22561 and possibly also 22481. When we open PT9 any resource windows, and some Tool windows that open automatically are blank: ESV16UK, HBKENG, Interlinearizer at least. It used to happen also with Source Texts and the Biblical Terms Window also, but I can’t test this at the moment.

The workaround is to drag a border to slightly resize the window; then the window populates with text. But this is a difficult workaround for “novice” PT users to remember, especially if they do not use PT every day and are in a remote location without good communication with a more experienced user.

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Answers:

1. The user reported that she was working when a pop up box said that the file was corrupt, so, yes, it appears that PT did used to work on the VM.

2. There is still some uncertainty whether the user has deleted the Paratext8Projects folder or not.

3. Output.txt has been sent to the support@ address, tagged with the PTXS-28413 report number, with a link to this post.